The downside of this all – the coffee itself may be full of pesticides, rancid, or even worse full of mycotoxins (fungal toxins). Roasting decreases some of the risk, but having a source of good quality preferably organic coffee is a good start. Drinking real coffee, and not all the frappy sugary artificial coffee based drinks (or instant coffee, which is chocked full of artificial ingredients and highest in acrylamide, a known cancer causing substance).

Having such a wonderful drink, how could it be improved… by adding butter. Yes, you heard me. When I first read about this I was very hesitant – butter is great on toast, on boiled broccoli, but in coffee? One needs to look no further for a butter lover – I am on the top ten list, from my previous posts ( University of Cambridge’s rehabilitation of butter as well as Dr. Aseem Malhorta’s defense of saturated fat, even the metanalysis done in California showing saturated fat does not contribute to heart disease) I am adamant in restoring its place in our kitchen and digestive tract. High in short chain fatty acids, vitamin K2, a high smoking point (clarified butter), a high Conjugated Linoleic Acid content and full ofomega 3 fatty acids(in grass fed cow butter), not to mention the great flavor, so many benefits are available both healthwise and culinary.

So today, after whipping up a fresh batch of butter, and only having goat milk, the decision to put butter in the morning coffee was set. To say the least, it was a great decision.

The procedure

The coffee (4 tablespoons) was freshly ground with a cardamon pod, a few cloves, and a pinch of grated nutmeg. After boiling the coffee (3 tablespoons for 3 cups of water), I added 2 tablespoons of fresh raw butter and used the hand blender – gave it a whirl for about 30 seconds. To my surprise, the butter formed a beautiful frothy cap on top. So that’s it- so easy, and a double punch of health benefits. No heart palpitations, since it seems the caffeine would be more slowly absorbed due to the higher fat content. There was also a greater feeling of fullness than after a regular cup of black or even milked coffee. This is going to be a morning staple. Cheers and good health!

Potatoes are a (not only) Polish staple food. High in vitamin B6, potassium, copper and vitamin C, they are a brain and heart nourishing food. One of my favorite ways to take in this delicious nightshade (which also grows quite easily in the ground or in a container) is to make Slaskie kluski, also known as kluski nylonowe, or nylon noodles. This is because their texture is unlike any other dumpling – they’re chewy and gummy. They are great served with a sweet side (like plum jam) or savory ( meat or mushroom). The recipe is quite simple, and can be brought up a notch for festive occassion like Easter – which I did by adding freshly chopped dill and chives for a great color effect. Served with a mushroom onion garlic sauce, they were a favorite at the Easter dinner.

Recipe:

2 pounds (or about a kilo) of freshly bolied potates

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cup potato flour or starch ( give or take)

2 tablespoons cream

optional:

1/2 cup chopped chives and/or dill

Peel the boiled potatoes once they cool off a bit. Mash with cream in a very large bowl or on a pastry board. Add in the eggs and salt and mix. Keep mixing the mashed potates and flour until the mixture is a rubbery consistency. If you want the green effect, add the chives and/or dill at the end.

Boil a pot of water with a little bit of oil or butter (so the dumplings don’t stick). Pull 1.5- 2 inch (golfball sized pieces) of dough, roll and thumbprint the middle of each dumpling. After making 10-12 noodles, put them in the pot of water. After these rise put in the next batch. Each set of dumplings should boil for about 5 minutes after rising to the top. They can be served with bacon bits, with sweet jams (if made plain), or with our house favorite sos pieczarkowo-cebulowy (mushroom onion sauce).

Mushroom onion sauce:

1 pound mushrooms

3 medium yellow onions

2 cloves or garlic

1/2 teaspoon majoram

1/4 teaspoon oregano

pinch of rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of pepper

boiling water

1 teaspoon potato or buckwheat flour

Chop mushrooms, saute on a skillet until slightly browned, add finely chopped onions and garlic. Add spices, pour water over well sauted veggies, then add flour to thicken, add salt to adjust. Top the kluski while hot. Smacznego!

A new study from the University of Cambridge reviewed saturated fat restricted high polyunsaturated fat diets and came to the conclusion that lowering saturated fat does not correlate with a lower risk of heart disease. The researchers also didn’t find evidence for a high polyunsaturated ( omega 3, omega -6) fat consumption. Even different types of omega 3 fatty acids had different rates of heart disease risk factors. In the 72 studies analyzed, the group found that long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids were differently linked to heart disease. Palmitic (palm) and stearic (saturated animal fat) acid were linked to slightly higher increases, while margaric (dairy) fat reduces heart disease risk.

Additionally, the study shows that the cardiovascular risks posed by red meat originate in the substance L-carnitine, and not in the saturated fat content.

The food download

Fatty aged cheese (like Gouda, Brie, Jarslberg) are high not only in dairy saturated fatty acids, but also have a high Vitamin K2 content. Liver, eggs, butterfat, and natto as well as sauerkraut (the last two the exceptions here) are all good sources of Vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 is necessary in the utilization of Vitamin D and ultimately calcium. Low levels of Vitamin K2 are a huge reason why so many people taking their calcium and Vitamin D have osteoporosis, vascular calcification, i.e. linked to heart disease. Vitamin K2 has other functions such as proper fetal bone development, decreased inflammmation in diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, possibly treat leukemia and even prevent wrinkles.

Short chain fatty acids butyrate (found in milkfat) are a quick energy source for colon cells, acetate is a direct energy source for the cells of our body, and many of the short chain fatty acids have cancer preventing activity.

Well for me personally, I’m going to continue to eat generous amounts of butter, coconut oil, leaf lard (great for baking), and goose szmalec. Like this offshoot article states, I will eat like my granny and my ancestors did before that. My poor mother didn’t – she avoided eggs, ate low fat dairy, cooked with vegetable oil and had two heart attacks and coronary bypass surgery before age 55. Now with diet (plenty of butter, goat milk, broth and veggies) actually has reversal of her post-MI ECG changes – a visible sign of heart function improvement – the doctor couldn’t believe it!

There is a growing number of doctors and researchers that are digging up the data and questioning the low fat, “modern” diet, since it’s just not bringing in the results. Saying that saturated fat currently overtaking our food is a fallacy. Most restaurants, most processed food producers make food like substances or cook with polyunsaturated vegetable oils and trans fats, which are causing our modern day problems of cancer, obesity, heart disease, even infertility, and not the maligned lard and tallow that Julia Child reminisced about, remembering fries back in the day.

Many types of saturated fats are out there, and they have been used for millenia. In any case, I’d like to live as close to 90 as possible, like my maternal dziadek (grandpa) did, eating his bacon and eggs, sourdough bread with szmalec. That, and I love to eat my freshly made raw butter – yum!

I love vanilla – the flavor, aroma, the aura it gives cakes, cookies, and even coffee. Vanilla is not cheap, though. It’s the second most expensive spice after saffron.

Of course there is vanillin – the synthetic extract found in most processed foods with “natural flavors” or something of the kind. These flavors, along with artificial strawberry flavors, come from the castor sacs of beavers, which is something most people don’t want to ingest, or wouldn’t if they knew.

Real vanilla contains vanilloids, which act like capsaicin, reducing pain and inflammation in the body, just like many hot pepper cultivars. It also has antimicrobial activity. So using is not only tasty and pleasant, but healthful too.

The best way to get real vanilla is to buy the beans yourself. The beans come in pods from vine like plants. If you have a local grower or have the plant, that’s great. If you’re like me, and buy the pods dried, the best way to make them last is to make vanilla extract.

Basically you put vanilla pods in vodka. My baseline (completely not scientific) is adding a minimum of 4 pods per 500 ml, putting in a cool dark place for at least 3 months, and them having an endless supply of vanilla extract. Adding more pods will intensify the flavor, as will a longer wait period.

This makes for a great gift, the whole bottle (if you’re feeling rather generous) or dividing it up into smaller bottles.

Just returning from Republica Dominicana, I have eaten my weight in platanos. Plantains are a staple in African, Latin American and Caribbean cuisine – I even saw a mashed potato version with onions and butter. Delicious.

Plantains are a food that is meant to processed by heat – whether by cooking, baking, or frying. They are considered very nutricious, with their high percentages of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, as well as a high potassium and magnesium content. They are a staple food in many places around the globe and commonly used for weening infants in many countries.

My favorite version are the tostones, twice fried plantains. The process is simple – cut up a plantain in generous slices, fry once, then cool, mash to flatten into a pancake like form, then fry again. I find that the version made with coconut oil is my favorite, although it can be made with lard, clarified butter, tallow or any other healthy saturated fat – and, yes, saturated fats are heat stable and good for the occasional frying. I try to avoid frying with regular vegetable oil like corn or canola oil (because of a high omega 6 content) or trans fats like Crisco, which are trans hydrogentated and have so many negative health effects. An execeptin is sesame oil, which has a high amount of lignans and tocopherols (Vitamin E), preventing oxidation. It can be mixed with coconut oil or clarified butter to make a great frying oil. Although olive oil is a healthful frying oil, I personally wouldn’t use it here for flavor reasons.

Tostones

1 plantain cut in 1/2 inch slices

tablespoon of coconut oil or cooking fat of preference ( may need a second for refrying)

skillet or pan

Recipe:

Cut the plantain, best in slight diagnal fashion. Heat the fat until a drop of water bounces and sizzles. But the on the pan, frying until both sides are lightly browned (1-2 minutes each). Afterwards place on plate or top, slighly mash to flatten, and reheat pan with fat. Refry until nicely medium brown. Either place in towel to soak up fat or just put on a plate to cool. Eat when slighly cooled (so not to burn your tongue). Buen provecho!